I Like You a Latte
by KitKatt0430
Summary: Cisco's not quite over his break up with Cynthia. Which is fine, as Ralph's not quite ready to admit he's got a crush. And, no matter what Barry or Eddie say, he's not pining or pathetic or anything like that. And he's totally not making excuses to spend time with Cisco at their coffee shop. The coffee shop. Whatever.


Summary: Cisco's not quite over his break up with Cynthia. Which is fine, as Ralph's not quite ready to admit he's got a crush. And, no matter what Barry or Eddie say, he's not pining or pathetic or anything like that. And he's totally not making excuses to spend time with Cisco at their coffee shop. The coffee shop. Whatever.

Notes: For Cisco Ramon Week 2019 - Day 1 - Coffee Shop AU

_**I Like You a Latte**_

"We got a latte for Ralph?" called the barista, setting the drink on the pickup counter.

Hopping up from his table, Ralph nabbed the drink and then resettled back with Barry and Eddie. He took a sip and then winced. "Ow, ow, ow, too hot," he groaned, his tongue getting that sort of numb, slightly burnt feeling to it. But so worth it for a taste of the pumpkin spice latte goodness.

"Slow down before you really hurt yourself," Eddie cautioned with an amused look.

"Oh shush you." Ralph petted the side of the cup. "This deliciousness only shows up for a limited time every year and I need to enjoy it while I can."

"If you burn your taste buds, there won't exactly be much savoring going on," Barry teased.

Ralph stuck his tongue out at Barry.

"So, who are we waiting for besides Iris?" Eddie asked, nonchalantly reaching over to brush hair away from Barry's eyes. Hair that most definitely hadn't been near Barry's eyes to begin with.

If they thought they were being subtle, Ralph had some ocean front property in Kentucky to sell them.

"Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie," Barry replied. "They're at STAR Labs - they were part of the team that consulted on the Bishwick case a few weeks ago. Ronnie and Caitlin are engaged and..." Barry perked up and gestured, "there's Cisco now." He waved at a cute guy with long hair.

Ralph eyed him appreciatively as Cisco joined their table. "Please tell me you are in to guys because, wow, do I have the strongest urge to flirt with you."

Barry face palmed, leaning against his boyfriend and groaning softly. "I'm so sorry, Cisco, that's Ralph. In fairness, I warned you."

Cisco was blushing, but he looked pleased. "It's fine, Barry. Nice to meet you, Ralph," he drawled wryly. "And you must be Eddie." He shook Eddie's hand.

"Why did he get a warning about me but no one warned me he was hot?" Ralph pouted. "Also, it is a distinct pleasure to meet you, Cisco. No coffee?"

"I used the app to send in my order; should be at the pickup counter soon," Cisco replied.

"The app hasn't updated to include the pumpkin spice latte yet," Ralph sighed, patting his drink. "I had to go through the line."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that was available now," Cisco snickered while Ralph spluttered indignantly because how could someone forget about that glorious beverage? "Anyway, I am into guys, but I just broke up with my girlfriend. So I'm not really interested in anything but flirting right now."

"Thank god. If you weren't okay with the flirting I'd probably have to tape my mouth shut. Because I'm pretty sure this whole place lit up when you walked in."

"Shameless flirt indeed," Cisco muttered, looking very amused. "Brightened up your day, have I?" he teased in a more normal tone.

"And brought up the ambient temperature of the room," Ralph responded. "Should have gotten an iced latte after all."

"Clearly I'm just too hot for you to handle."

"There's two of them," Barry groaned, dropping his head against Eddie's shoulder dramatically.

"Don't worry," Eddie teased, planting a kiss against Barry's hair. "Iris will be here to protect us from the awful flirting soon."

* * *

Cisco, it turns out, is a frequent visitor at Jitters, just like Ralph. So naturally they're going to run into each other there. Makes total sense.

Of course, Ralph deciding to use the place as his new 'muse' for solving cases has nothing to do with wanting to run into Cisco more often. Complete coincidence. No ulterior motives whatsoever. Barry and Eddie can get off his back about it any time now, really.

Anyway, they end up meeting at the coffee shop a lot. And talking about whatever comes to mind at the time.

"Captain Picard is way cooler than Kirk. For one thing, he likes Detective stories. Noir themed holodeck fun times. Kirk's hobbies are boring in comparison."

"Excuse you, Kirk and Picard have more in common than they do differences. Both enjoy horseback riding and struggle with the weight of command..."

Be that fun topics or... conversations of a more personal nature.

"So I've told you about why Cynthia and I split up. But what about you? Any relationships in your past that were particularly hard to get over?"

Ralph's expression went distant and, for a moment, he considered changing the subject. The last time he'd talked about Sue, he'd been drunk. But... he trusted Cisco. "I, uh... I was engaged. It was our last year of college in Opal City and we were supposed to get married the week after graduation. Spring Break we had our bachelor and bachelorette parties the same night, only... whole night at the bar I've got this terrible feeling. And I don't know why and I can't concentrate, keep checking my phone to see if Sue has called or texted and... there was a car wreck on the highway that night. Some idiot cut off an eighteen wheeler which spun out of control which... massive pile up.

"Sue was dead before she reached the hospital." Ralph can't talk anymore, his throat all tight and the only thing keeping him from tearing up in the middle of the coffee shop is the way Cisco holds his hand.

"Oh, god, Ralph, I'm so sorry."

"I'm pretty sure my professors all passed me that semester out of pity because I was a mess afterwards," Ralph said, once his chest loosened up. "I moved to Central as soon as I could and just... its easier for me to cover up how I feel with stupid jokes. So I kind of got a reputation for not taking anything seriously." He paused a moment, pensive. "I still miss Sue so much... but I also... I reached a point where I knew she'd want me to move on and be happy. It's still hard to talk about her but... it's always kind of a relief when I do. Sorry, though, to just dump that on you without any real warning."

"Hey, I did ask, didn't I?"

And they got close. Spent as much time together outside of the coffee shop as they did in it.

So Ralph could be forgiven for thinking - hoping, praying, desperately wanting - that his relationship with Cisco might be headed somewhere romantic.

* * *

"I've got a date this weekend," Cisco tells Ralph.

And Ralph's stomach plummets. His ears ring a little. His disappointment absolutely mires Ralph in this awful feeling that makes his chest too tight and full at the same time and its all he can do to make his excuses to leave early sound natural.

Because Cisco's date is not with Ralph. And he doesn't want this awful feeling inside to hurt their friendship.

So Ralph misses the cues that might have told him that Cisco is not looking forward to that date.

* * *

Ralph doesn't ghost Cisco, but he does his utmost to avoid the other man for the rest of the week, throwing himself into a case involving a murdered child. It's awful stuff and, honestly, Ralph might've avoided Cisco anyway because he feels like shit every day. Stays late going over evidence with Barry and Eddie. Iris drags her boys home but Ralph... has no one to go home to and no one to make him shut the files away every night. He doesn't want to inflict himself on other people when all he can see when he closes his eyes is that little boy's face.

He falls asleep in a meeting Saturday morning after they've arrested the perpetrator and Captain Singh actually sends Ralph away.

"Don't come back for forty-eight hours, Ralph. Shower, sleep, eat, and watch She-Ra or something on Netflix, okay?"

"I love the implication that you watch She-Ra," Ralph responds, blinking hard and thinking not of sleep - and the nightmares that'll likely bring him - but of coffee and the probably unhealthy urge to stay awake when he shouldn't.

"Dibny," Singh says warningly, eyebrows arched judgmentally. But there's amusement there too and Ralph meekly leaves the station.

He goes to Jitters, orders a pumpkin spice latte, and then sits and stares at his drink.

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to drink it," Cisco observes as he slides into the seat across from Ralph. "You look like hell."

"Oh, good, that's how I feel. I'd hate to look worse than I feel," Ralph blinks up at Cisco because... when did he get here?

"A few minutes ago and... you did not mean to ask that out loud, did you?"

"I'm a little sleep deprived. And I've had a shitty week. And..." Ralph blinks hard because where did those tears in his eyes come from? "Just a really bad case. We just closed it early this morning and... uncle murdered his nephew. Because the kid wanted to play with the neighbors dog. Who... who the hell does that?" Cisco must've changed seats because suddenly he's just there, next to Ralph instead of across from him, and he's holding Ralph. So Ralph takes the opportunity to hide his face against Cisco's shoulder.

On a normal day, he'd want to do this because Cisco is warm and firm and smells incredible and also this puts him at the perfect spot to kiss along the guy's neck. Obviously, never going to actually happen, but Ralph can dream. None of that's going through his mind right now, obviously, because right now Ralph just desperately needs to be held. Reassured that he's going to be okay. And then Cisco's hand slides soothingly against the back of Ralph's neck and...

Ralph has to pull away before he starts sobbing in public. "Sorry," he mutters. "I haven't been sleeping well."

"Come on. Let me drive you home, okay?" Cisco looks so concerned that Ralph just... nods.

The drive back is quiet. Ralph wants to drift off to sleep but his eyes close and he's back at that crime scene, seeing the kid's face again.

They get to Ralph's apartment and Cisco insists on going inside with Ralph. Which is for the best because Ralph has started crashing. He nearly passes out standing up in the elevator ride to the second floor and has to recite his apartment number twice in order to get the number order correct. 253 not 325. He's pretty sure his neighbors would mistake him for drunk if they saw him like this.

But Cisco just takes it all in stride and helps Ralph into his apartment and then to his bedroom and makes him change into pajamas before putting the detective to bed.

It's all kind of a hazy blur, really, and Ralph is instantly embarrassed by the recollection when he wakes up several hours later (his alarm clock tells him its dinner time) to the smell of something truly delicious being cooked in his kitchen.

So Ralph puts on his slippers and a robe over his pajamas before shuffling out into the living room. From there he can see in his tiny kitchen is one Cisco Ramon cooking something delicious on the stove.

"You stayed?" Ralph asks, even though obviously yes, Cisco stayed, he's right here. He settles at one of the bar top stools feeling vaguely disconnected. He still hasn't had enough sleep, but the smell of good food has reminded his stomach that it requires nutrition.

"I hope you don't mind?" Cisco looked adorable in Ralph's 'Bake it So' apron.

"Not at all," Ralph says, smiling sleepily. "I'm always happy to have you around, Cisco. And also you're cooking food, which I am currently incapable of doing. In this state I'd probably burn the kitchen down. So... thank you, for looking after me."

"Yeah, well... I thought maybe you were avoiding me this week," Cisco muttered, looking embarrassed now. "You just kind of vanished after Monday afternoon."

"Sorry." Ralph felt all guilty now. "How, uh... how was your date? That was Friday night, right? Or is it tonight?" He'd honestly stopped paying attention after Cisco said he had a date. Ralph had been a little too preoccupied for things like 'details' when he wanted to go find a dark corner to curl up and cry in.

"Last night. And it went about as badly as I thought it would." Cisco grimaced. "Dante thought he was helping by setting me up on a date and it was his birthday, so what was I supposed to say? No? Actually... yes, I should've said no. Birthday or not, Dante is terrible at playing matchmaker. And it turned out Marietta is pan-phobic and Dante saw nothing wrong with that even though I'm pan and he's supposedly supportive and..." Cisco huffed out an irritated sound and poked at whatever he was cooking with a spatula. "My brother, once again, making an ass of himself. And our parents wonder why I don't like spending time with him anymore."

"Ah, so they nagged you into agreeing to spend time with Dante, who then nagged you into a date you didn't want, who then tried to nag you into not being queer anymore?" Ralph felt really guilty now. He should've paid better attention to what he was being told on Monday. "I'm sorry. That sounds awful."

Taking the food off the stove and flipping off all the dials, Cisco served what appeared to be an omelette of some kind onto two plates. "I spent the whole time wishing you were there with me."

"You did?" Ralph squeaked.

"I did." Cisco handed Ralph one of the plates. "I... I like you a lot, Ralph. But I kind of think this is something we should talk about when you're not wrecked from overworking yourself. Did you sleep okay? You seemed really upset about that case and I was worried you'd have nightmares."

Ralph took a bite of the omelette - so good, so very good, how did Cisco make this from just the ingredients in Ralph's kitchen? Ralph didn't think he even had any black olives left - and used that as an excuse to gather his thoughts. "Thankfully I didn't seem to dream of anything at all. But I... nightmares are a distinct possibility. I don't usually have a problem with them, but after really bad cases... which is pretty much any case involving harm to kids... Would you mind staying the night? I've got an inflatable queen mattress somewhere, or... you could sleep in my bed if that's cool with you? I just... really don't want to be alone right now."

Cisco smiled ever so sweetly, making Ralph's chest feel all warm and floaty. "I'll stay," he promised.

* * *

Nightmares are a lot easier to deal with, Ralph realizes sometime in the middle of the night, when he can snuggle back into Cisco's arms after a quick trip to the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Go back to sleep, Ralph," Cisco mutters against Ralph's neck. The soft puffs of air feel absolutely lovely.

Ralph's asleep within minutes.

* * *

Once more in their favorite coffee shop, Cisco and Ralph plan their first date. Ralph wants mini-golf. Cisco wants karaoke. They're pretty sure they should just make a whole afternoon of it so they can fit some go kart racing in there too.

"Are you sure that'd count as our first date and not this?" Ralph teases. "Or, like, the many times we've both apparently showed up at Jitters in hopes of accidentally-on-purpose running into each other?"

"We're hopeless dorks. And if we want to call the date we're planning our first official date, then that's what it is," Cisco declared, pausing to kiss Ralph on the cheek before delving back into narrowing down their options for the mini golf and go kart racing.

"This one is near a karaoke bar I've been to before," Ralph says, pointing at a place on Cisco's phone map that does the golf, karts, and laser tag. "Mermaid karaoke. Excellent Long Island Iced Teas."

"Then I think we have a plan. And possibly the addition of laser tag to our itinerary."

"As long as we're on the same team, sounds awesome," Ralph agreed, reaching over to lace their fingers together. He absolutely melts when Cisco squeezes his hand lightly.


End file.
